Chasing Stars
by pherion
Summary: Haruka is a S-Ranked criminal when deep in the forests, she meets Team Minato. Instead of killing her, they take her into custody. Everything she didn't have when she left her hometown, she does have now. And then, slowly things are taken away from her again and she's all alone again. Together with Kakashi though, but what can he do? Will he be there for her when she finds out?


_**.01.**_

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><p><strong><em>friends<em>**

"Fuck," Haruka cursed while stepping on a small branch. It broke."I need to pee."

She was thirteen now, a whole life was in front of her, but she wasn't seeing it anymore. A future, that is.

It had been a year since she left Iwagakure and her clan. And it felt good. She was feeling better and more powerful than ever. In that year she had fully seen her Kekkei Genkai change throughout the year. Being thirteen and having perfected all four of the stages was a wonderful feeling. Not finding any imperfections in the four of them was an even better feeling. She felt like she could conquer the world. Even though she was just thirteen years old, she told herself - and everyone else - that age was just a number and experience was a lot more. With her thirteen years, she had murdered a lot of people, 'ex'-clan people and other S-ranked missing nins.

"Fuck," she cursed again. She didn't drink any water for the past three days and she was dried out. Plus, she was living on the fruits she found and the animals she killed along the way. "How much longer is Konoha? I want some proper food to eat," she complained. She sat down behind a tree and while sighing, she rested her head against it. Even though she killed so much people, she had gotten quite angsty of every little sound she heard. "And I'm tired. I wonder if Konohagakure is nearing. And I hope nobody recognizes me there."

Suddenly her heart started to race and she felt chakra nearing. One... Two... No, four persons were nearing. A four-man squad. Three Chūnin around her age - one girl and two boys - and one adult, a Jounin, probably their sensei. Covering her chakra, she hid behind a tree and sat down. They were close and she was able to hear them talk.

"I swear, Minato-sensei! That monster... it was _huge_ and it almost ate me!" a boy yelled.

_Monster..._

"Haha, of course, Obito. It ate you, how fascinating," the adult commented. Minato-sensei, Haruka assumed. So the loud-mouthed boy was named Obito.

"Yeah right, Obito," the other boy said, growling. "You know that monsters don't exist." His voice was quite cold.

The girl sighed. "Kakashi, be a little nicer to Obito, would you?"

The second boy, Kakashi, didn't respond to that, but Haruka could figure from the silence that he had annoyingly rolled his eyes. He suddenly stopped walking and Haruka flinched. Had he notice anything? Was she about to get caught?

"Thank you, Rin~" said the loud-mouth to the girl.

"There's an intruder." The boy had a rather cold voice. Haruka gulped and her heartbeat stopped. Had he seriously noticed her?

"So you noticed too, huh, Kakashi?" the man named Minato-sensei said.

_Crap,_ she thought, _I need to flee and quick._ She made an attempt to run away.

"Halt," the cold-voiced boy spoke. "If you flee, we can get you into prison."

The adult laughed shortly. "Now, now, Kakashi. Don't be so mean. What he meant was that if you come and show yourself now, we don't have to chase and get you." He sounded nice. "Who is there?" the sensei asked. "We know you're there, and that you're not from here. We won't hurt you."

She wasn't fully convinced yet. "That's not important. Why would I and should I believe that?" she asked.

The cold-voiced boy sighed. "It could be very important to us," he hissed.

"It is?" the loud-mouth asked.

Haruka rolled her eyes. "Yeah right," she said.

The sensei coughed. "If you flee now, we have to catch you and then we'll have to interrogate you," he said, "and maybe imprison you." There was a short silence. "But if you show yourself, nothing will happen and we won't have to. It's your choice. And I believe that Konoha is your destination?"

Haruka nodded, even though they couldn't see her. "Uhu." She slowly stood up and noticed that the girl hadn't said a thing or moved from her spot at all after she started to talk.

"Running away isn't going to help," the cold-voiced boy said. "And you know that."

Haruka moved a little, took a stance to try to get away and jumped on the tree she was leaning against. First, she jumped on the tree where she was resting against. She swiftly moved from one to another tree in a mere second. She couldn't hear them, but she knew they were there, following her closely. "Fuck," she cursed once again. If she ran away, they certainly knew she was a rogue ninja. Okay, maybe they already knew because she didn't want to show herself. But still!

"She's fleeing, Minato-sensei!" she heard the loud-mouth yell. "We have to get her!"

Haruka rolled her eyes once again. That boy and his loud-mouthed character annoyed her. A lot. She felt her chakra lowering and they just came closer and closer. And that was no good. She was too tired to make it away, she knew. They would get her and interrogate her. Maybe even kill her. She had to go on. She had to. She couldn't stop.

But she did.

She fell down to the ground with a loud thud. She whimpered a little and her vision faded.

While she passed out, the cold-voiced boy made his way over to her, stood in the tree where she fell out from, did some hand signs and his hand lit up with blue lightning. "Chidori!" he yelled and let himself fall, charging himself at her at full speed.

"No! Kakashi, stop!" the girl yelled.

He stopped the Chidori and tried to slow down, but couldn't. He could change his course and landed on his feet, just a few inches away from her. "What," he snapped.

Everyone landed next to him, surrounding the girl, and looked at the girl from their group.

"Rin, what is wrong?" the sensei asked her.

She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again.

The sensei looked at her, questioning her. "Rin?"

"When... When she started to talk, I knew I remembered her from somewhere where we met her before. And when she ran, I saw that black hair flashing by. Then I knew," she said, and looked at that same black-haired girl laying on the ground.

The loud-mouth looked at her, dumb-faced. "What do you mean?"

"Before you go on, Rin, let's first head back home, where the hospital can nurse her," the sensei said. She nodded and the sensei grabbed Haruka up from the ground, and carried her on his back. "Let's go."

The girl sighed. "Remember that mission we went on, to the Water Country?" They nodded. "She's one of the nins from Iwa, I know for sure. I can't remember her name, but that she can tell us herself, I presume."

.

.

.

"Argh," Haruka groaned. She woke up and sat up straight. "My head hurts like cra...zy-? Where the fuck am I?" She looked around and noticed a brown-haired girl sitting on a chair next to her bed, her head on her bed. "Why am I in a hospital and who's that girl?"

The girl moved a little when Haruka moved and woke up too.

"Ah! It's good to see that you're finally awake," she said.

Haruka grunted in response. "I assume. Can you tell me where I am?"

"Of course I can. You are in Konoha Hospital. After we caught you in the forest, we brought you to here. You've been out for three days," the girl said. "Oh, and my name is Rin, Nohara Rin."

Haruka's eyes became as big as sausages. "Konoha?! Hospital!? What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Apparently not." Then it hit her. "Wait, when you caught me in the forest...!"

"Don't worry, we haven't interrogated you while you were asleep," Rin explained. "But I am afraid that one of my teammates does want our interrogation team to interrogate you."

She did not know how to react.

"Rin! Rin!" The door opened with a bang and Haruka flinched at the sound. There was the loud-mouthed boy. Obito, as Haruka could recall. She glared at the boy.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Obito glared back and caught his breath. He turned to Rin to talk. "You and _she_ need to go to the Hokage. Minato-sensei requested you to go with her." He didn't look away from Rin while he was speaking. Obito bid them goodbye and left them alone.

Haruka rolled her eyes and clenched her teeth. What could that boy have against her? She didn't understand at all. "I don't want to," she said.

"You have to," Rin said, a sad smile on her face for some reason. "I hope for you that you only have to answer a few questions and such, but I'm afraid that wouldn't be all of it." Haruka gulped. "Let's go, I'll guide you," Rin suggested and smiled self-confidently at her.

But Haruka nodded unsure. She didn't know what to expect. Rin stood and held out her hand for Haruka to grab, to help her out of the bed. She took it gladly and got out of bed, still feeling a little weak. Haruka thanked her and together they walked outside the room. She still was a little wary to the brown-haired girl, but could handle it for the moment. They walked through the hospital and everyone looked at the two of them, and Haruka glared at all of them who looked.

Rin tugged her arm. "Don't worry too much about them, they're just curious because you're not from here," she said and Haruka nodded slowly.

The moment they left the hospital, Haruka winced at the sun shining down on her. She had to adjust her eyes to the fierce sunshine before she could walk any further.

"You okay?" Rin questioned and Haruka nodded once again. "Okay, good. It's not really far away from here, like a five to ten minute walk or so."

"I can handle that," Haruka replied with a smile and Rin laughed, and they walked further. It was a silence walk until Haruka started to talk. "So... What's your Hokage like," she asked, a little shy.

Rin giggled. "He's the sweetest man that has walked on this earth." Haruka looked at her in disbelief. "No, really! Some people might find him the creepiest man ever, but to me, he's amazing. But he's going to retire soon, he's quite the old man."

"Isn't he one of the Three Sannin?" Haruka asked, in which Rin replied with a smiling nod. "He must be really powerful," she said in awe.

"He is. I've never seen him fight before, but I believe he must be," Rin told her. "Ah, we're here." They stopped in front of a big red building. The sign on top of it read 'Fire'. Haruka gulped at the sight of it and nervousness started to take the best of her. "Don't worry, I'll stay by your side the whole time," Rin whispered and grabbed her hand, to hold it tight. Haruka nodded and started to shake a little. "Let's go inside," Rin said softly and pulled Haruka with her into the building.

There was no turning back now.

While Rin was knocking on the door of the Hokage's office, Haruka started to breathe uncontrolled and her heartbeat started to rise. She was never this nervous for anything, so why now?!

"Relax a little,'' Rin said to comfort her. She had felt Haruka's hand palms becoming very clammy. Haruka looked Rin in the eyes and breathed in and out. "I won't leave you, I promise." She gave Haruka's hand a little pinch and gave her a little wink.

Rin's voice had something so soothing, Haruka immediately relaxed at it. She got her normal breathing pattern back and they heard the door open. Their eyes snapped from each other to the door and they saw a group of Genin with their sensei coming out.

"Oi, Rin!" a boy said. Haruka frowned at the boy in front of her. He was wearing a strange green suit with orange leg warmers. Haruka looked confusing at Rin, who smiled friendly at the boy and his company.

"Ah, Gai-san!" Rin said with a smile. "This is Haruka. But we'll talk later," she said before Gai could comment on anything, and went on, "we have to meet the Hokage. Urgent," she said and walked in the office, pulling Haruka by her hand. She stopped a few meters in front of the desk of the Hokage, who was arranging a few papers.

"I'm glad you have arrived, Yōsoni Haruka," the man said. The Third Hokage... Haruka couldn't reply, her mouth went dry and her nervousness came back. "Rin, you can go now."

Haruka stiffened. Rin, going? That wasn't the deal, right? She looked at the girl next to her, then to the hands they still were holding and back to Rin's face. Haruka saw that she was shaking her head.

"Rin? What's wrong?" the Third asked.

"I'm sorry, but I can't leave," Rin said, confident of her doings. "I promised Haruka that I would stay, here, with her," she said firmly.

The Hokage looked surprised and Rin didn't look scared at all. But the Hokage understood her. "Alright, if that is what you promised her, then that's okay, isn't it?" Rin nodded, happy she won, and pinched Haruka for another time in her hand.

"It's going to be fine. Remember what I said, okay? Relax," she whispered. Haruka swallowed and nodded, turning back to the Hokage.

His attention was now focused on her too. "Yōsoni Haruka, first, I welcome you to Konoha," he said. "Second, I want to ask you a few questions. You have the choice to answer them normally, otherwise we could go for the option of interrogating." Haruka nodded. She was ready for this, she knew. "Why did you leave your clan and Iwagakure?" The Hokage didn't sound angry at all, so Haruka knew she could relax at these questions.

She took a deep breath. "My clan acted like I didn't existed. My parents were the same way. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or anything, but I already reached my last stage of my Kekkei Genkai last year, when I turned twelve, the age where some only just perfected their second or maybe even first stage. I was told I was a cursed child, ever since I was five years old." She stopped talking.

Rin tugged her hand and whispered, "You're doing great."

"I was sick of it. They always pretended I was trash or dead. I was bullied by the elders. No one 'liked' me, not that I wanted their liking anyway. The night before I left, the oldest son of the clan head opposed me and we battled. Of course, I lost, but not even a little. He literally beat me to a pulp and I couldn't even move for the first few hours. They let me be until I could walk on my own again." She wanted to cry, but held on strongly. Rin closed a little on her in, and Haruka felt her arm go around the small of her back. "I couldn't handle any of it anymore, so I left."

The Hokage nodded slowly. "And for how long has it been that you left them?"

"A little over a year," she replied.

He nodded again. "Why were you headed for Konoha?"

"Because I wanted food." The Hokage chuckled. "And a better place to sleep at for one night."

"Okay, I know enough," he decided. Haruka and Rin were taken aback. He did? "Summon Minato for me," he said to the Jōnin standing right from him, and went back to Haruka. "I suggest you stay in Konoha for now. I'll place you under Minato's care and he'll make sure you will get cared for. If you want to, you can train with his team a few times. But we will see, because that's now not the time yet," he said.

Haruka wanted to struggle against. Staying in Konoha? This is not what she wanted to happen!

She wanted to say a thing, anything to comment, but the blonde man called Minato appeared - Rin's sensei, Haruka could remember. "Hokage-sama," he said. "You summoned me?"

"Haruka, I want you to see this as some kind of prison. You're too young and in my opinion too innocent to be put in our prison." Haruka scared at the word. _Prison?! What... _"Minato, I want you to take care of her." He nodded at Haruka. "No buts. Please," he said, "she needs it."

.

.

.

"Welcome to my humble house," Minato said to Haruka as they stood in front of his home. "Rin, thanks for walking with us. I suggest you go home now, your parents must be worried."

Haruka turned to Rin and smiled carefully at her. She hadn't smiled this much since ages. "Thanks... for everything," Haruka whispered at Rin. "I think I couldn't have explained it without you."

Rin smiled brightly in return. "Don't mention it," she said. "That's what friends are for, right?"

_Friends..._

"Well, see you tomorrow, Minato-sensei!" She turned around. "Oh, and Haruka?" She turned back again. "Hope to see you soon again." She giggled and sent a wink in Haruka's direction.

"Y- Yeah!" Haruka was glowing from ear to ear. Rin as a friend was like a dream coming true. She watched her walking away and couldn't already wait to meet up with Rin again.

"Why don't you come inside, then I can introduce you to my wife." Haruka turned to Minato and followed him inside.

The inside of their house was beautiful. Haruka couldn't believe what she saw. So this was a house in the Fire Country? It looked way different than home - err... the place she used to call home. A women appeared from out of the kitchen and Haruka couldn't do anything but stare. She was so pretty. Long, super long, red hair and beautiful dark blue eyes.

"Haruka, this is my wife, Kushina." He walked over to her. "Kushina, this is our new housemate, Yōsoni Haruka. I'll explain everything tonight. For now, Haruka, I think dinner's already served, so this is just the right time we came home." Minato left them alone and went to the kitchen.

Kushina smiled friendly. "Nice to meet you, Haruka-chan. Is it okay if I call you like that?" Haruka nodded. To be honest, she was happy someone would finally call her like that. "Good. You're very welcome here. It's true what Minato said, dinner's already served so be pleased to dig in." And as if on cue, Haruka's stomach growled loudly. Kushina laughed loudly, and Haruka found it so lovely to hear this women's laugh, that she warmed up immediately... and it felt like home already. "I hear you're hungry," Kushina said, muffling her laugh. "So follow me, I'll lead you into the kitchen." Haruka nodded soundlessly and followed Kushina into the kitchen.

_Home, huh?_ Haruka could get used to this, even though she was still a little weary of the situation she was placed in.

**.:.:.**

_Shiki (四季) literally meaning: four seasons. The reason why will be explained in the next chapter. _

_Thanks for reading, and please review!_


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